1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content hook-up apparatus and method. In particular, the present invention relates to a content hook-up apparatus that searches for and downloads various formats of content corresponding to a search list input by a user, performs format conversion on the downloaded content so as to be playable on a predetermined display apparatus, and provides the content subjected to the format conversion to the display apparatus, which can play the content, in a streaming manner. The content is subject to search, download, and format conversion at a predetermined interval according to the user's preferences.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the current information age, demand for information is increasing, and it is becoming more common for people to connect to the Internet, which is referred to as a sea of information, so as to acquire desired information and to enjoy entertainment. In particular, the use of the World Wide Web (hereinafter “Web”) that supports text, video, music, and moving pictures is explosively increasing. Further, a teletext system repeatedly and simultaneously provides various teletext programs by multiplexing text and figure information in a signal television broadcast channel. The teletext system provides live information, such as news articles, weather information, television program guides, leisure information, sports, entertainment, and real-time stock market information.
Among these, the acquisition of information through the Internet is mainly performed using a personal computer (PC) or an Internet television (TV). In this case, a user stores addresses of frequently used Internet sites using a bookmark function of the personal computer. Accordingly, when the user wants to connect to those addresses, he/she needs only to click on the bookmark. This reduces a time required to search for in format ion.
However, a considerable amount of time and labor is still required to search for desired data on the Internet that is open to everyone around the world and has an enormous amount of information. Further, even if the data is found, the data may not be supported on a display apparatus.
In Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1999-025610, entitled “Internet Connection Device for Internet Television having Internet Function”, there is suggested an Internet connection device for an Internet TV that searches a site on the Internet for a time slot other than a current TV watching time slot.
In Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-0033295, entitled “Automatic Information Search Method”, there is suggested an automatic information search method that searches for desired information on the basis of user-prescribed search information and stores a corresponding Internet site or corresponding information from additional information of a broadcast signal in a memory on the basis of the search result. According to this automatic information search method, since it is not necessary for the user to confirm and search the desired information in full, a search time can be reduced.
In Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-0062455, entitled “News Provision Method”, there is suggested a news provision method that automatically downloads news articles on the Web at a predetermined time and provides the news articles to a user in real time. In this case, the news articles on the Web are classified on the basis of the preference of the user. Further, only a specified code regarding news information on the Web is downloaded and the size, position, color, and font are processed and edited according to the user's operation.
In U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002095687, entitled “Contents Cashing for Interactive Television”, there is suggested a technology that checks a cache in a server or a cache in a set-top box according to a request for URL content, receives the URL content from the cache when the URL content is stored in the cache, and displays the received URL content, and, when the URL content does not exist in the cache, downloads the URL content from a remote server. According to this technology, it is determined whether or not to download the URL content according to whether or not the URL content is stored in the cache.
In such related technologies, as Web content to be provided to a display apparatus, providing an IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) service, and metadata having various formats, the Web content may not be supported on the display apparatus. Further, since bandwidth varies according to the status of the network, stable streaming cannot be ensured.